"Xiangbei, one hundred million US dollars is a lot, it could even buy an F1 team."

"Carlos has shown great sincerity, we’re actually not losing out in this deal."

Compared to Chen Xiangbei being a driver, Peng Sheng is a businessman with an MBA in sports marketing.

The current transaction price can be said to be a win-win deal, each party has gained what they wanted, and the team’s strength can be significantly enhanced with the injection of capital.

If we ask for too much, it might be overreaching!

"President Peng, it’s a downturn period for F1 now, Carlos is willing to invest one hundred million, which means he sees the future value of the HRT Team."

"Moreover, both Huali and Jiuli are only facing temporary financial difficulties; outside investors don’t know the specific situation, we can show some toughness and try to negotiate."

Chen Xiangbei could understand Peng Sheng’s thoughts. In this era, F1 teams indeed don’t sell for very high prices, unlike decades later when just the entry fee costs a few hundred million USD, and overall investment needs to be at least a billion to make the cut.

Due to constraints from the time and national power, the Chinese car company, to be honest, cannot sustain an F1 team; even Huali, which has a racing gene and ambition, is investing with gritted teeth, and other car companies can’t come up with the money and technology.

Even considering entering the hybrid era decades later, domestic car companies are actually still unable to afford F1.

But if we can get through these few years, whether we can afford to play is one thing, at least we can firmly hold onto a ticket to a top-level car race.

Mexican Telecommunications is currently at its peak valuation, simply put, they aren’t short of money, Chen Xiangbei believes there is a basis for negotiation.

"Xiangbei, to make the other party compromise, we have to see what we can offer."

Peng Sheng spoke directly; this is business speaking about business.

"A bet agreement!"

Chen Xiangbei gritted his teeth and offered his proposal.

"Since Carlos values future potential, then promise that HRT can at least become a top three team in the annual points ranking."

"If we can’t do it, we’ll double compensate for the extra funds he put in."

Listening to Chen Xiangbei’s suggestion, Peng Sheng subconsciously nodded.

Indeed, whether it’s Huali or Jiuli, they are currently more facing temporary financial shortages, as long as they can get through the difficulties, they can breathe a sigh of relief.

For example, Jiuli Sports’ difficulty lies in purchasing the F1 hosting rights and paying for the circuit fees.

But once the F1 Chinese Grand Prix is successfully held, just through ticket sales, advertising, tourism, and various peripheral revenues, they can break even and make a profit.

Moreover, undoubtedly having China’s first F1 driver as a selling point exists, this year the East Sea Circuit will see a demand hard to satisfy, just like when Zhou Guanyu first appeared on home ground decades later.

"Alright, let’s do as you suggested."

Peng Sheng nodded, then turned to negotiate with Carlos as a shareholder.

As for Briatore, he somehow managed to get a bottle of champagne, ready for the celebration that would follow. From his perspective, this was a multi-win business with no reason to fall apart.

Of course, the one who wins the most is Briatore himself; he has already signed Perez as his agent.

After a brief discussion, Carlos, representing Mexican Telecommunications, agreed to the bet agreement and reached a consensus with owner Kalanbant, the future team equity ratio will be 3:3:4, with Chinese capital still as the major shareholder.

At the same time, Mexican Telecommunications is willing to invest an additional fifty million US dollars to strengthen the team’s headquarters’ research and development capabilities, ensuring competitiveness this season.

However, Carlos also put forward his request, which is that the HRT Team must ensure that Perez has a racing seat after finishing the GP2 series.

As for who gets kicked out, it is not in Carlos’ consideration.

Anyway, this official seat must exist!

None of the shareholders objected to this; someone paying heavily for a spot is a very normal thing.

With the cooperation agreed upon, the hotel conference room immediately became a scene of joyful toasts, a harmonious atmosphere.

As for Chen Xiangbei, he didn’t drink. He wasn’t interested in commercial networking, so he greeted everyone and then left the conference room.

Taking the elevator to the room upstairs, at the end of the corridor, Chen Xiangbei saw a familiar figure, Trulli was standing in front of the window smoking a cigarette.

In Chen Xiangbei’s memory, Trulli didn’t seem to have the habit of smoking.

Feeling something unusual, Chen Xiangbei approached with curiosity, but before he could speak, Trulli spoke first: "Perez got the seat?"

"You know?"

Chen Xiangbei was a bit surprised; it’s normal for drivers not to know business activities in advance.

Not to mention this kind of investment-related matter, even when signing contracts with the team ahead of time, without confirmed progress and results, agents often won’t proactively tell drivers too much because it can easily affect their competitive state.

Imagine if the contract renewal succeeds, that’s fine, but if you’re informed to leave next year, even if a driver’s emotions are stable, facing this news of the end of their career, they probably wouldn’t be able to remain calm, would they?

So in the hotel conference room, when Chen Xiangbei saw everyone reach consensus, he wasn’t very surprised; you could only say Briatore hid it well.

As for Trulli finding out early, it was unusual; he was also a driver, Briatore would be even less likely to tell him.

"Of course, don’t forget that I once signed an agent contract with Briatore too, and was kicked out of the team by his secret decision."

Speaking of being secretly kicked out, Trulli can be considered a veteran in this matter.